NewsForge: Deficiencies in Resolving Dependencies Limit Linux’s Appeal

“I’ve been spending a lot of time lately trying to get a fairly
sophisticated software package installed. I’ll fill you in on the
specifics when I’ve succeeded (he said optimistically). My main
stumbling block has been resolving package dependencies–what you
need to have installed already in order to get the application you
want to install to work. Dependency handling is a huge stumbling
block Linux has to overcome if it hopes to gain wide consumer
acceptance.

“The dependency problem is a necessary artifact of software
development. Developers take advantage of existing code libraries
for common functions; it makes sense not to duplicate work that’s
already been done. They depend on the same libraries being on end
users’ target machines when their applications are compiled and
linked there. If the libraries are missing, you can’t build
executable code…”

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